PREFACE FROM THE EDITOR/CONVENER

Regarding the format of the submitted papers, I followed the general guidelines of the publisher ISHS, which explains the changes made in some of the manuscripts. All manuscripts were peer reviewed, either before or after the Symposium, and only a few manuscripts had to be retyped. I am very pleased with the technical help and advice from the International Society for Horticultural Sciences (ISHS) to put the Proceedings together. With the support of Dr. Philip Dumalin and Dr. Jozef Van Assche, an interesting addition to the series of Acta Horticulturae is realized.

Finally, I wish to acknowledge with grateful thanks Adele Rempel, who completed much of the secretarial effort involved in formatting the final stages of the Proceedings and I would like to thank again all members of the Scientific and Organizing Committees who made it possible to have had this event.

K.W. Richards
Plant Gene Resources of Canada
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Saskatoon Research Centre
107 Science Place
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 0X2


WELCOME TO SYMPOSIUM PARTICIPANTS

It is an honour and a pleasure to welcome all of you to Canada, to Alberta, to Lethbridge, and to the 7th International Pollination Symposium. The first Symposium was held in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1960 with subsequent Symposia held in London, UK (1964), Prague, Czechoslovakia (1974), University of Maryland, USA (1978), Versailles, France (1983) and Tilburg, The Netherlands (1990).

The Pollination Working Group and the Nectar Working Group of the International Commission For Plant-Bee Relationships (ICPBR), a scientific member of the International Union of Biological Sciences, has organized this Symposium on the general theme: “POLLINATION: FROM THEORY TO PRACTISE”. The topic of this year's Symposium is of importance to not only those in agricultural research but also to those in more basic research, as well as to those who benefit from that research both nationally and internationally. In this Symposium we want to focus on the need to instill more theoretical or basic principles into applied pollination ecology. We have endeavoured to reach a balance between the applied aspects, which are the most interesting for industry representatives/sponsors, and the more basic aspects which are more attractive to many researchers.

The purpose of the Symposium is to bring together an international group of researchers to present and discuss new findings in pollination research. It provides an opportunity for new research workers to participate and meet other specialists concerned with plant-bee relationships. S.N. Holm, Copenhagen, Denmark, a past chairman of ICPBR, stated his hope that future Symposia would ensure pollination continued to be regarded as an important field of research in connection with plant breeding and crop production. Through presentations, new perceptions produced by imagination and knowledge would be forthcoming, and with the necessary investigative effort many of the ideas will ultimately lead to new pollination techniques and practices. Honey bees have until recent years been the only pollinator controlled and deliberately used to pollinate many different entomophilous crops with varying degrees of success. Now several species of native bees are managed as pollinators of crops on a commercial basis. Past Symposia have lead to discussions on the importance of native pollinators in crop production and this Symposia promises to continue the trend. Conservation of pollinators, plants, ecosystems and genetic diversity continues to receive international attention, especially since the meeting in Rio de Janeiro and the Convention on Biological Diversity came into being. It is anticipated this Symposia will increase the level of awareness among biodiversity, genetic resources, and the agricultural productivity that sustains us, and should provide background information that assists in the formation of policies for changes in land use leading to long-term agricultural and environmental sustainability.

K.W. Richards, chairman
7th International Pollination Symposium


WELCOME TO SYMPOSIUM PARTICIPANTS ON BEHALF OF ICBR

It is my very great pleasure, as Chairman of ICPBR, to welcome all of you to this, the 7th International Symposium on Pollination, and to do so on behalf of ICPBR, the International Commission for Plant Bee Relationships, under whose auspices this meeting has been organised. As you will all know, this Symposium has been made possible largely through the hard work over the last three years of our host, Ken Richards. What you may not know, is that Ken Richards is Vice-Chairman of ICPBR. I'd like to take this opportunity of thanking him both personally and on behalf of the Commission on his achievement in getting us together for what promises to be a most stimulating and congenial meeting.

Ken invited me in this address to tell you a little bit about ICPBR. I expect that most of you are already members and well aware of ICPBR activities but there may be some of you who are not yet members and I hope very much that you will decide to join us over the next few days.

So what is ICPBR and what does it do? This Commission was instigated in 1950 during the International Botanical Congress in Stockholm and founded at the International Beekeeping Congress in UK the following year. It was then called the International Commission for Bee Botany. Anna Maurizio, the renowned mellissopalynologist, was the first President of the Commission and continued as such until 1975. Anna Maurizio's important role in founding and guiding the Commission during those early years was officially acknowledged on her death in 1993, when, at the suggestion of our Past President, Jean Louveaux, we added the words 'Founded in 1950 by Anna Maurizio' to our official title. The newly founded Commission soon became a scientific member of The International Union of Biological Sciences and remains so to this day.

The Commission has three objectives: Firstly, to promote and coordinate research in the area of relationships between plants and insects of the superfamily Apoidea, secondly, to organise meetings related to plant-bee relationships and to publish and disperse their proceedings, and thirdly, to collaborate closely with other national and international institutions interested in the relationships between plants and Apoidea.

The work of the Commission is organised through its working groups, of which there are currently four: the Pollination Group led by Aad de Ruijter, the Honey and Pollen Group led by Gian Carlo Ricciardelli d'Albore, the Nectar Group led by Art Davis and the Bee Protection Group led by John Stevenson. All of these groups have organised successful International meetings over the past six years and the Bee Protection Group is to hold its next meeting this coming September in Braunschweig.

So ICPBR is thriving and membership has almost doubled recently from 120 in 1991 to 224 in 1995. Benefits of membership include an annual Directory of members giving their research interests and contact addresses and an annual circular reporting news of the activities of the different working groups and other matters of interest to our members. Both of these are circulated by our Secretary, Jean-Noel Tasei. Members of the various working groups also receive communications from their leaders; for example, Bumble Bee enthusiasts can subscribe to their own Newsletter, Bumble Bee Quest. And most importantly membership is free!

So do please join ICPBR if you have an interest in plant-bee relationships, and please would all members come to the General Assembly of the Commission to be held here tomorrow afternoon (24 June) at 1630 to help review past achievements, plan future activities and elect officers.

Six years ago, at the last Pollination Symposium, Dr. Holm, in handing over the Chairmanship of ICPBR to me, also handed me this number 7, as a symbol of my responsibility to ensure that a 7th Symposium would be organized. So it is now my great pleasure to declare the 7th International Symposium on Pollination, well and truly open.

Thank you for your attention and I wish you all an interesting and enjoyable conference.

Ingrid H. Williams
Chairman, ICPBR